Thursday, March 19, 2009

We had a great evening down at the Verm yesterday, and the '09 paddling season is officially open at last! There are few things in life that make me as happy as kayaking, so I'm totally stoked to get another season up and running. We had a whole bunch of paddlers, including three Bryan's (one was a Brian, though), two Aarons, and a whole bunch of other folks. The water level was higher than the gauge said, maybe around 110 or 120. It was flowing fast, though, so there was lots of fun to be had. The put-in trail was its nasty springtime self, but everyone made it down in one piece. Big congratulations to Aaron W. who had his first ever river run! He did great, running the river without flipping, throwing himself into donut for an intro to surfing, and doing the cliff drop into Fisherman's pool. Looking forward to lots more paddling days to come!

I didn't take any pics yesterday, but Nora did. Check 'em out on her blog.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

12 of us (though sadly only 1 other kayaker besides me) jumped into the not-so-tropical waters of Lake Calhoun on Saturday. The water was a bit chilly, but the day was a blast. We started with some beverages at Bar Abilene Saturday morning before jumping on the shuttle bus and heading to Thomas Beach.

Our team was named Shaking, Not Stirred. In keeping with the Bond theme, the guys all had tuxedo t-shirts and the girls had "Bond Girl" shirts. Next year, we'll have to try to get some fancy heating gadgets from Q before jumping in... This year we had to settle for the hot tubs that were graciously provided by the Plunge sponsors.

After plunging, we headed over to Famous Dave's for some nice, hot comfort food. It was a great end to a fun day.

Together our team raised over $1600 for Special Olympics. Thanks to all those who donated - S.O. is a great cause.

Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Huge congratulations to Graeme and Katie, who are welcoming the newest addition to their family! Her name is Murphy Elizabeth - here's a photo. Now we just need to come up with some sort of floating stroller... I bet the river waves would make a nice substitute for a rocking chair.